Didier Morville, better known as JoeyStarr, is, along with his brother, their mother's caregiver. "You see, I was taken away from her very young, and I found her again when I was in my thirties. My brother and I didn't immediately realize what was happening. My mother was a very well-dressed woman. Then, one day, she arrived with only one earring. There were other things, some forgetfulness, but we told ourselves it was just age."
Then, the diagnosis came two years ago. "It's hard to be taken away, and above all, you realize that even when you have the means to put all the logistics in place, well, even then, it's complicated," confides Didier Morville. "I'm very interested in my contemporaries, in what's going on around me. When this happened to us, I asked myself, 'But how do other people do it?' And besides that, we can't stop living either. It's dizzying."
Didier Morville tries to see his mother as much as possible, as she has been placed in an institution. But it's difficult. "I mean, I missed my mother so much... Seeing her like this today saddens me to the core."
"I think we only feel concerned when it's someone close to us. Otherwise, no, I follow the media quite a bit, it's something we talk about very little. We don't have a very supportive system. You figure everything out on your own. I didn't expect a user guide, but I did expect more help. We're left to our own devices. There are so many people affected by Alzheimer's, and so little to guide them. I think we're getting used to it, and that's why we don't talk about it much. When we have these attitudes, it seems, yes, that it's taboo."
Didier Morville believes that it's also taboo "to be old today." "And Alzheimer's is lumped into the category of old age. This way we take care of the elderly reflects the individualism that this society creates." "I think a lot of people must be in my situation: we display a certain modesty when in fact we don't. We need to sound the alarm, we need to be proactive," Didier Morville adds. "People always tend to believe that we artists are blessed, that we live in a bubble. I'd like to be heard when I say that this happens to everyone, without exception."

Interview conducted in October 2024.
@France Alzheimer - 2025

A France Alzheimer and Related Diseases collection
with Laurent Dupuis/Bénédicte Fonfroide de Lafon/Leandro Neto/Sandrine Nowak

Directed by - Yoni Nahum
Interview - Laurent Dupuis/Yoni Nahum
Image - Jonas Leather
Sound/Mixing - Grégoire De Mareuil
Editing - Sophie Tapia
Makeup - Cara Cullen
Ground Music - Oaksome
Graphic Design - Héloïse Fournier
Studio - 11e District